Shota Imanaga makes spring training 'debut' for Cubs

MESA, Ariz. — Cactus League play hasn’t started yet, but all eyes were on Field 6 of Sloan Park’s backfields Wednesday afternoon.

At the plate was Seiya Suzuki, the third-year Cub coming off a scorching hot last two months of 2023 who’s looking to carry it over to 2024. On the mound was Shota Imanaga, the Cubs’ recent signing from Japan who threw live batting practice for the first time as he makes his first foray into Major League Baseball.

It was only live BP, sure, but it was still a matchup the people wanted to see.

The former Nippon Professional Baseball stars overlapped for a few years in Japan. Suzuki, 29, played nine seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, before signing with the Cubs in March 2022. Imanaga, 30, had an eight-year run with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars before joining the North Siders last month.

Imanaga and Suzuki faced off “so many times,” Imanaga said Wednesday through an interpreter, and it seems like Suzuki got the better of him at least a few times.

“I gave up a lot of home runs [to Suzuki],” Imanaga quipped. “So, he’s probably pissed that we’re on the same team now, so his home run numbers are gonna go down.”

But how would this battle, the first for the two as teammates on the Cubs, go down? Imanaga said the two talked about facing each other beforehand, and he told Suzuki he would throw only fastballs. But once Suzuki stepped in the box, Imanaga changed his mind.

First pitch: breaking ball.

“Once he gets out there, he looks bigger, and I don’t wanna lose to him,” Imanaga said. “So, I lied to him. I threw a breaking ball, too.”

The duel ended in a strikeout, so Imanaga won the battle this time around. And he showed off plenty of what made him so successful in Japan — stuff, movement, a slight delay with a hitch in his delivery — but it wasn’t all success for him on the day.

He faced six hitters during his session, which included going up against Patrick Wisdom twice. The first at-bat, Wisdom popped up to first base. But the second time, he got ahold of one for a home run. Imanaga had been throwing a lot of fastballs, but when he left a “bad slider” up in the zone, Wisdom crushed it.

It was sort of an example of the way Imanaga will have to adjust to the major league game. Hitters will adjust to him — Wisdom did after one at-bat — and he’ll have to learn how to adjust back.

“The hitters are able to adjust quickly,” Imanaga said. “I think I faced two hitters twice, and the second time, they’re adjusting already. I know I threw a lot of fastballs today, but [we’ll] make sure we use a lot of different pitches and stuff next time.”

This won’t be an easy transition for Imanaga.

Though he did say Wednesday regarding the pitch clock that “there’s more time than I expected, so I don’t have to rush myself,” it’s still something he’ll have to be mindful of as he begins his major league career. Then you add in the different baseball he’s be using. He previously said his breaking balls might take more of an adjustment to the ball used in MLB compared to the one in NPB, and Yan Gomes’ feedback Wednesday said the movement on Imanaga’s slider was inconsistent.

So, yeah, he’s got plenty on his plate as far as this transition period goes. But even just getting into simulated game action this early is another step in the right direction.

“There’s a reason why he’s here,” Wisdom said. “I know he can adjust, too. I think he’s gonna do a great job of adjusting to the hitters during the season. … I know Shota’s gonna be electric for us.”

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s thrown at him,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We’re throwing [pitch] clocks at him and different pitches and grips and things like that, so it’s just good for him to start the process of learning and a little bit of competition with hitters out there.”

From here, Imanaga is eyeing another live batting practice. He should throw one more before getting into Cactus League games. After throwing 24-25 pitches Wednesday, Imanaga said he’ll look to pitch two innings in the range of 20 pitches each his next time out.

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